Mortality of acute promyelocytic leukemia in a rural tertiary care center.

Abstract

e18529 Background: Acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) has a very good prognosis when diagnosed and treated promptly. Despite the excellent prognosis, early mortality remains high, ranging 17-40%. Geisinger Health System (GHS) has provided treatment for a significant number of APL patients, but mortality of APL at GHS has not been studied. We conducted a study to assess early mortality related to APL in GHS. Methods: Retrospective analysis was performed of patients diagnosed with APL from January 1988 to February 2019, determining the number of patients diagnosed and treated for APL in GHS, overall 30-day mortality rate, stratified by risk group (low, intermediate, high based on presenting white blood cell and platelet counts) and age above or below 55. Results: A total of 61 patients with APL were identified. Average age at diagnosis was 44.77 years (SD = 19.12). The death rates in patients in whom risk data was available was 7%, 9.3% and 11.6% respectively in the low, intermediate and high risk groups respectively. There was no statistically significant difference in the frequency distribution between risk categories for survival, χ2 = 1.03, p = .60. Between age groups, 8.3% of patients under age 55 died, whereas 18.3% of those 55 or older died. Survival between the two age groups was statistically significant, χ2 = 10.92, p = .001. Estimated 30-day overall mortality in the studied population was 16.39%; and 7.69%, 5.56% and 38.46% for the low, intermediate, high-risk patients respectively. Conclusions: Among patients diagnosed with APL in the GHS over the past 30 years, the early mortality rate has been comparable to reported mortality rates in centers around the world. Our study showed a statistically significant higher mortality rate in patients 55 years or older. Further study is planned to assess factors contributing to mortality and outcomes.